Compliance can be a profit driver and at least a mitigator of risk (even in Port Elizabeth)

Compliance is a major concern for many businesses as it has so many facets. just like the mythical Hydra, it just keeps appearing with new heads, which all appear to be equally menacing. The general trend in Port Elizabeth businesses, appears from initial interviews to be very piecemeal.  Various managers are tasked with aspects which relate to them.

On the face of it, it makes logical sense to approach compliance this way, after all you have subject experts dealing with their particular areas and that should solve the problem. What is evident is that compliance and risk, share many of the same attributes. They both are constantly evolving and they both have the uncanny skill of working their way around silos and matrix systems which do not have a clear co-ordinated approach which is approached strategically.

I have have many times addressed this with clients, who initially confidently professed full compliance and then later were found to have areas were compliance was incomplete or in some cases completely lacking. Compliance in such cases becomes a risk and in a business environment, which is increasingly unfriendly to business, this could be a element of the business, which should not be neglected.

The case of Walmart's latest big hire, as head of compliance is a golden example of the need of not only having 'boots on the ground on site', having specialists in place in key areas and having a compliance and risk system in place; but you also need a central lynch pin which can bring it all together into a working whole.

The future looks to be increasing compliance driven and Walmart have taken a vital step in ensuring that co-ordination and strategic alignment of the compliance and risk functions.